Improvement in electroplating with nickel and other metals



I a. wrBEARDSLEE.

Improvement in Electrop'lating with Nickel and othef Metals.

Patented July 30, 1872.

UNITEDSTATES'; PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGEW. BEARDSLEE, on BROOKLYN, NEW YonKf- IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTROPLATING WITH NICKEL AND OTHER METALS.

Specificationforming pm of Letters Patent no. 129,581; dated July 30, 1872.

l roauwhom amay concern? Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BEARDs- LEE, of Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Electrodes, to be used in the process of electro depositing of metals, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part thereof.

Figure 1 represents a side surface viewof a form of my electrode designed to be suspended verticallyin the plating solution. Fig. 2 is conductor of electricity, and not soluble in the plating solution, with a cover or inclosure made of a material that is neither a conductor of electricity nor soluble in the said solution,

wherein the metal to be dissolved and deposited in the process of plating is spread over the surface of the said plate or mass in a granular or fractured state, securely held, and conveniently and favorably presented to the action of the solution and the electric current.

A is a cross-bar or piece of wood or other material not soluble in the solution and not a conductor of electricity, which sustains aframe,

b, of light material. 0 is a plate of carbon or other material which is a conductor of electricity, but which is not acted upon by the chemical solution. Dis a clamp, to which iscon-.

nected a strip of metahg f, the clamp being placed upon the upper end of the carbon plate. The latter'is inclosed b the frame, and extends up through the cross-bar A. By the bending-screw e metallic connection is established between the strip f and the conductingwire m leading from the negative element or copper. plate of the galvanic" battery. The

conductingwire I connected with the bendin gscrew it forms the connection with the positive element, or zinc plate, of thegalvanic battery.

From the binding-screw s, which is in metallic connection with the screw k,rods and electrical conductors t may be extended, from which i to suspend in the chemical solution the articles designed tob lated. The metal, in a granular or fractured\state, intended to be dissolved and deposited upon the articles in the process of plating, is spread evenly over the flat surface (one or both sides) of the conducting-plate 0 within the frame b, the said plate being firmly held within theframe by the pins g g passing through the frame and into the plate at top and bottom. Over and upon the surface of the metalthat is spread upon the conducting-plate or mass 0 is placed a covering or holder, t", which is to be formed of some material that is neither a conductor of electricity nor susceptible of being acted upon by the plating-solution, and it must be so constituted that it will permit the solution. to pass freely through it, and will not mate rially interfere with the transmission of the electric current from the conducting-plate ormass 0, through the solution, to the article being plated. I find, in practice,that a covering made of a mosquito-netting or'some other very loosely-woven fabric is conveniently employed and answers an excellent purpose; but any other material fulfilling the before stated conditions may be used. This cover or holder, when made of such a fabric, may be sewed onto the frame I) through holes made in the frame and held firmly upon the metal to be dissolved, confining it in close contact with the conducting-plate (J by lacing twine across the surface of the cover or holder, as shown at h. The electrode thus formed may be suspended and immersed in the chemical solution, or conveniently placed in it in any desired position, without displacing the metal contained in the cover or disturbing its relations to the conducting-plate 0.

metal to be dissolved to the action of the electric' currents and to the chemical solution of a depositing-vat in a manner that insures better results than it is possible to obtain where-if the metals are formed into plates or sheets, when it is practicable to reduce them to that form, as in the granular or fractured state-a much larger surface is exposed to the solution and the electric currents than it would be pos sible to obtain by plates or sheets made with the same weight of metal; and it is well known that the suspending in a vertical position of the electrode with the metal spread over its surface within the solution will produce more My electrode thus constructed presents the perfect plating in many cases than when the metal is laid upon a carbon plate placed in a horizontal position within the vat.

The use of the covering applied in the manner described permits of the arranging and holding of the metal in such position relatively to the conducting element of the electrode and to the article being plated, as to produce uniformly and conveniently the best possible result, and is peculiarly adapted to plating with nickel, cobalt, chromium, andother metals of a similarly refractory character that cannot be conveniently formed into a plate.

It is important, if not essential to good plating, that the entire electrical current should be made to pass from the conducting element of the electrode through the metal to be dissolved, and that no substance that is a conductor of electricity and connected with the electric circuit should be interposed between such metal and the article being plated, or should be placed in such relation to the two as to conduct any portion of the current from the conducting element of the electrode through the solution to the plated article without passing through the dissolving metal. My electrode, as herein described, fulfills very perfectly all these conditions.

I am aware that electrodes have been made for presenting nickel and other similar metals to the action of the solvent and the electric current in electroplating by placing the granulated particles in baskets and other forms of holders composed of metal; but this arrangement places a conductor of the electric current between the dissolving metal and the article that is being plated, and, in' accordance with a fixed law, the electric current passing through the shortest space will, more or less, take its way through such metal-holder to the article being plated without passing through the dissolving metal, and thus exhaust the solution of its dissolved metal, leaving the undissolved metal within the basket but slightly acted upon. A similar action is found to take place when nickel or other similar metals is formed into plates for electrodes, as they usually are, with a large alloy of carbon. Such plates, when used for electroplating, give ofi' their metal freely while new; but continued use, by dissolving out the metal, leaves the carbon upon the surface of the plate, which then acts like the metallic basket or holder above referred to.

I am also aware that electroplating has been done with nickel and other similar metals by spreading the metal over a carbon plate laid in the bottom of the plating-vat, or upon the solvent, such as carbon, platinum, &c., in

combination with the holder or case formed of the non-conducting substance, that also is not susceptible of attack from the solvent employed, by which the metal to be dissolved is securely held in contact with and spread over the surface of such plate or mass, while it offers no practical obstacle to the passing of the current through the solution from the metal to the article being plated.

The conducting element of the electrode may be made of any desired shape or of any material that is at once a conductor of electricity and not susceptible of being acted upon by the plating-solution. So also the cover or holder enveloping or inclosing the metal to be dissolved may be made of any suitable material and constructed in any manner adapted to accomplish the results herein specified.

It is evident that my electrode, constructed as described, is adapted to the process of the electro-deposition of metals for all purposes.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, in the formation of an electrode to be used in the process of the electro-deposit of metals, of the electrical conductor G, with the holder or cover 43, inclosing, in a granular or fractured state, the metal to be dissolved and deposited, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEO. W. BEARDSLEE.

Witnesses:

J. P. Frron, I. LIVINGSTON MILLS, WM. (3. REDDY. 

